Customer Reviews

Urawaza: Secret Everyday Tips and Tricks from Japan

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Everyone knows how to cure the hic-ups, or to get wine stains out of white clothing right? There are all sorts of little household tricks and tips handed down via word of mouth, or from a helpful friend or parent in a time of need. The Japanese term for these is "urawaza", a word with a sly feel to it meaning a little secret that only you know about, something you discovered about a product that the producers didn't intend for you to know. Its main use is with videogames, referring to cheat codes left in by programmers who never intended them to become public knowledge.

This book is full of urawaza's, little "cheat codes" for common household objects like potatoes and old sales receipts, things that would normally never be used for more than their intended purposes. For example, magically clearing up a stuffy nose by shoving the white root section of a scallion in your nostrils, or rubbing a little egg white on your glasses to prevent them from fogging. Each tip is accompanied by a short explanation of why the process works, showing the molecules and process involved that accompany the magic.

The strange thing is, the tips actually work. I haven't tried all of them, but the ones I have given a shot work just as advertised. You might feel a bit strange at first rubbing a cut potato across your bathroom mirrors to make them fog-free, but you can't argue with the results. Want to know how to keep your bathwater from going cold using only orange peels, or how to make your dull hair glossy? "Urawaza" has what you need.

The only disappointment with this book is the lack of any real Japanese connection, aside from the title. There are a few little asides at the start of each chapter talking about the author's personal history or a few cultural notes, but that is about it. There was a good opportunity to include some Japanese vocabulary for each entry, just a few words here and there relating to the subject, and make this a language-learner along with its helpful and fun tips. Unfortunately they didn't go that route, but if you aren't studying Japanese and just want a cool and useful little book, then that isn't really an issue.

Urawaza contains dozens of cool tricks, everyday inspirations and ways to impress your friends and family by cleverly doing things better.

I have tried several of the tips. My faves are using a piece of bread to pick up glass (pg. 70)--works like a charm! This weekend I made potato salad and used the super-cool egg-peeling technique (p. 96) and impressed my BBQ guests!

Urawaza is a fun guide that appeals to that part within us all that likes to simultaneously be clever & practical. The book also couples simple scientific explanations that help us understand more about our environment through. It will be a hit with Japanese culture fans, DIY enthusiasts, those who appreciate Everyman wisdom and especially young folks who enjoy exploring our world in new ways.

This book is like a fun version of Hints from Heloise...little tricks that you're surprised work, that make your every day life a little smoother. I like skimming the book, and I've gotten some good ideas from it already. Another nice thing is the explanation of why each tip works...I picked up some lite science while reading. That said, the book is a little layout heavy, with only one tip per page. If it was more packed, I think I would've given it 5 stars. Even so, it's a fun book to have around when you just wanna thumb through.

When the Dallas Morning News reviewed this book, I almost passed. I'm 66 and have had about enough of household hints, but it was a slow day and I read to the end. Paraphrasing, "To restore a wool sweater shrunk in the dryer, soak in a sink of water and hair conditioner, then block etc...." My Prince had washed in hot water AND dried my favorite garment ever...a $300 merino wool/possum fur cardigan sweater from New Zealand. No kidding,from an XXL it might have fit a 10 year old child. I hadn't discarded the sweater, thinking I might someday make potholders or something from it. So after a dip in the sink with about half a bottle of hair conditioner, a short soak, a quick rinse, a towel blot, a block and my sweater is nearly perfect. My gosh, what else is in this book? Can't wait to find out.

It's certainly about time we had something from Japan that goes beyond the famous "101 Useless Japanese Inventions" (funny, though). Now we have "Very useful Japanese tricks." I really like how Lisa tells us why the tricks work as well. And the vignettes for how the situations might arise are so funny!

I've had this book for several months now, and it only gets more and more useful and fun. It's improved my quality of life in so many areas -- in the margins, but it's these little things that make it so fun. The other day I spilled wine on some white clothing. No problem. I impressed my grandmother and family to no end by cleaning up their coffee and tea-stained cups and coffee-maker with orange peel and salt. My wife dropped an egg on the floor, and it was so easy to clean up the mess. In our household, "what does it say in the Urawaza book?" is now the standard first response to many situations. In the office, warmed-over coffee never tasted so good. I don't need to worry about garlic breath after lunch. And my plant is thanking Urawaza for saving its life, since it stayed home without me but didn't dry out.

I just wish I could hold more of the urawaza in my head so I'd be prepared for all sorts of contingencies on the road too. I've recommended this so many of my friends, who immediately rush to go get their own copy after I've recited some of the great tricks.

Definitely one for every household. This also makes a great gift! (I'm set for this Christmas season - I always have trouble finding something that's fun and useful)

Urawaza, meaning the "secret trick" - contains a bit over 100 tips and tricks that can help to make your life a little bit easier and more fun. The cool part is that you'll also know why the trick works. You'll find some tricks more useful and practical than others. Here are few examples from the book:

* You can restore a flavor to coffee that's been sitting around for a while and has started to taste bitter, by adding a little bit of salt to it. Salt reduces bitterness allowing the coffee bean flavor to prevail.

* To remove coffee or tea stains from a mug, sprinkle some salt on the inside of a lemon or orange peel and use it to rub the mug. The oils in the lemon and orange peel are ideal stain removers, and salt acts as a natural abrasive.

* if you need to pick up tiny pieces of broken glass, put few slices of bread over the danger zone. The tiny fragments of glass will wedge between the holes in the bread, leaving the floor shard free.

These tips allowed me to carry heavier things, improve my karaoke skills, eliminate excess beer foam, overclock my car battery and cure my hiccups. The tips and the instructions on how they work are so fascinating that they lodge in the mind easily--I may not need to know how to remove gum from someone's hair for five or ten years...but if I ever need to do it, I'll remember the Urawaza method.

Love learning the super creative ways to be more efficient in every day living. I think this would also would make a cool & unique gift too.

I really can't talk about HOW good this is. This book has over 100 secrets that come from Japan that ROCK. These secrets are anything you could EVER want to know. It is truly amazing how functional this stuff is. Plus, NONE of it is obvious stuff either.

This is all useful, powerful and easy to use stuff. I LOVE this book and HIGHLY reccomend it.

This books has a lifetime of practical Japanese wisdom crammed into it's pages and Lisa Katayama lays it all out for you in a very witty and entertaining manner. The only thing that comes close to being this practical is '''' (Seikatsuzukan) an illustrated manual for everyday tasks like folding your shirts and cutting up renkon---that's geared for Japanese junior high school students. Her book is much more amusing. If only there were a few tips on cleaning up blood and cauterizing wounds--it would be my bible. Well, you can't get everything you want but for a fun read and useful little life tips--this book is worth a couple ten dollars bills. FULL DISCLOSURE: I met Lisa Katayama after I'd picked up her book a few months ago and found her as charming in real life as she is on the printed page. I should have gotten my copy autographed when I had the chance, but my only copy of the book has been borrowed by a room-mate, never to return. I wish there was an urawaza for recovering books you've loaned out.